The biodiversity outlook for New South Wales is dire with a recent government report predicting that without significant intervention, only half of the more than 1,000 species listed as threatened will survive this century. Threatened species include animals like the koala, the southern greater glider and various owl species, and plants like daisies, ferns, wattles and boronias. The key driver of this looming extinction is habitat loss from native forest logging, agricultural clearing, and development including for fossil fuel mining with extreme weather and fires from climate change exacerbating the problem.

Before 2016, strong land clearing laws protected privately owned biodiverse rich land but the previous government replaced what was a world-class regime with laws that facilitate broadscale native bush clearing. I opposed the laws and the concerns I raised at the time about runaway land clearing have been realised and identified in the recent independent review by former federal treasury secretary Ken Henry.

These destructive laws were also opposed by Labor when in opposition and I joined my progressive cross bench colleagues to call on the now Labor government to deliver its pre-election promise to “stop the excess land clearing”. The government has responded with a new regime that aims to not only protect what is left but restore and improve biodiversity. I am still assessing the detail and my office will get a briefing this week, but I strongly welcome a change in land management that focuses on environmental protection for future generations.